Spring 2025
The Politics of Policing
POL 340
Police are perhaps the most visible face of American government and the decisions they make have life and death consequences. This course explores major questions in the study of the politics of policing, including how controversial police tactics such as stop-and-frisk are deployed, how rules and procedures affect the nature and volume of police-civilian interactions, how police militarization affects perceptions of law enforcement and crime, and the relationship between race and police behavior.
Instructor: Jonathan Mummolo
Additional Details: The Politics of Policing
Gangsters and Troublesome Populations
SPI 392 / ANT 363 / AAS 369 / URB 363
Since the 1920s, the term "gang" has been used to describe all kinds of collectives, from groups of well-dressed mobsters to petty criminals and juvenile delinquents. In nearly a century of research the only consistency in their characterization is as internal Other from the vantage of the law. This class will investigate how the category of "the gang" serves to provoke imaginaries of racial unrest and discourses of "dangerous," threatening subjects in urban enclaves. More broadly we will examine the methods and means by which liberal democratic governments maintain their sovereign integrity through the containment of threatening populations.
Instructor: Laurence Ralph
Additional Details: Gangsters and Troublesome Populations
Criminology (Half-Term)
SOC 524
This six week course approaches the problems of crime and violence from the perspective of social scientists. Students learn about the central concepts, findings, debates and questions in the study of crime, violence, and punishment over time, moving from explanations that focus on the individual criminal toward explanations that focus on contexts and situations that make violence more likely. The course ends by studying active policy debates in the United States. Throughout, the class spends a substantial amount of time thinking about how to understand crime and violence through the collection and analysis of data.
Instructor: Patrick Sharkey
Additional Details: Criminology
Topics in Policy Analysis (Half-Term): Non-State Violence, Human Capital and Economic Development
SPI 593M
In this course, we study how individuals' lives and well-being are shaped by the presence of non-state violence and seek to identify policies to reduce it. We cover cases from the developing world from civil conflicts in Sub-Saharan Africa, gender violence in South Asia, to gang wars in Latin America. We understand why violence and non-state actors may emerge in some contexts and not others and the consequences for development. We focus on policies to reduce violence and the use of innovative data to understand the causal effects of these policies.
Instructor: Maria Micaela Sviatschi
Additional Details: Topics in Policy Analysis
Policing, Civil Rights and Social Change
SPI 336
This course covers policing in the United States as it intersects with constitutional rights and racial justice. Topics include studying the history of police institutions, from slave patrols to big city police departments; the constitutional framework for policing powers, including police use of force and search and seizure powers; various theories and tactics of policing, such as Broken Windows policing and other proactive policing strategies; policing practices in the context of schools, drug enforcement and immigration enforcement; and various models of police accountability and the challenges they face.
Instructor: Udi Ofer
Details: Policing, Civil Rights and Social Change
The Criminal Legal System: Advocacy and Freedom
SPI 413
This is an experiential learning course. Students will learn about the criminal legal system broadly and in NJ specifically, while working towards the freedom of an incarcerated person. It includes skill development: advocative writing/narrative building, oral advocacy, investigative research, trauma-informed interviewing, creating supportive evidence, and cross cultural relationships. Skills are contextualized by readings and media about the criminal legal system, the factors that lead to incarceration, and decarceration tools. The course aims to educate at the intersection of subject matter expertise/context, fieldwork, and creativity.
Instructor: Maya Dimant
Details: The Criminal Legal System
Previous Courses - Fall 2024
Policing and Militarization Today
ANT 223 / AMS 223 / AAS 224 / URB 224
This class aims to explore transnational issues in policing. Drawing heavily upon anthropological methods and theory, we aim neither to vindicate nor contest the police's right to use force (whether a particular instance was a violation of law), but instead, to contribute to the understanding of force (its forms, justifications, interpretations). The innovative transnational approach to policing developed during the semester will allow for a cross-cultural comparative analysis that explores larger rubrics of policing in a comprehensive social scientific framework. We hope that you are ready to explore these exciting and urgent issues with us.
Instructor: Laurence Ralph
Crime and Violence in U.S. Cities
SPI 328 / URB 328
To understand American inequality, politics, history, and cities, it is necessary to understand American violence. This course is a mix of criminology, public policy, sociology, and urban history. We'll cover ideas about how to explain violence, moving from theories that focus on individuals to focus on neighborhoods, policing, guns & culture. We'll think about how to explain trends in violence, focusing on the declining violence in the 90s to the recent rise of gun violence since 2020. We'll think about ways cities can respond to violence, from street lighting to summer jobs to hot spot policing & consider the impact & consequences of each.
Instructor: Patrick Sharkey
Urban Inequality and Social Policy
SPI 537 / SOC 537
This course focuses on the causes, consequences, and responses to urban inequality. The course is organized in four parts. First, we consider how one comes to learn about and understand cities and neighborhoods. Second, we review classic and current ideas about how urbanization affects the way we live and interact with each other. Third, we assess various explanations for urban inequality. Fourth, we focus our attention on central problems and challenges of urban life, from segregation to violence, and consider policy responses.
Instructor: Patrick Sharkey
Policy Advocacy Clinic Seminar
SPI 490
The Policy Advocacy Clinic provides a unique offering for students to learn about and participate in the policymaking process. This one-year, two semester program includes two core components: a fall semester academic seminar where students study the policymaking process and a spring semester field program where students engage in active campaigns to advance public policy. Topics will cover both the academic and practical, ranging from studying public policy theories and structures to developing the skills needed to engage in policy analysis, campaign planning, power-mapping, and the legislative process. This course is by application only. Click the "More information" link below for details.
Instructor: Udi Ofer
Negotiations and Conflict Resolution
SPI 430
This course offers an experiential examination of conflict resolution theory and practice including negotiation, mediation, and restorative justice. It will focus on an analysis of the impact of emotion, power, culture and other factors on conflict escalation, de-escalation and resolution. Students will learn skills through interactive exercises and simulations.
Instructor: Maya Dimant
Carceral Politics and Intimacy Across Central America
LAS 384 / ANT 284
Central America resurfaced with El Salvador's war on gangs, arresting over 75,000 people in the past two years. This course will examine the history and politics of carceral logics around crime and race in Central America through an intersectional and ethnographic perspective. Starting with a historical excavation, we'll focus on Central America's war on gangs from a transnational perspective, including the role of the U.S. in the making of a "gang crisis", and we will examine the policing of black and indigenous populations. Throughout the course, we will discuss how carceral politics shape forms of intimacy, especially in the family realm.
Instructor: Grazzia Grimaldi
More information on Carceral Politics and Intimacy Across Central America
Previous Courses - Spring 2024
Topics in Domestic Policy: Policing, Militarization, and Policy
SPI528G
This class aims to explore transnational issues in policing. Drawing heavily upon anthropological methods and theory, we aim neither to vindicate nor contest the police's right to use force (whether a particular instance was a violation of law), but instead, to contribute to the understanding of force (its forms, justifications, interpretations). The innovative transnational approach to policing developed during the semester allows for a cross-cultural comparative analysis that explores larger rubrics of policing in a comprehensive social scientific framework.
Instructor: Laurence Ralph
Gangsters and Troublesome Populations
ANT 363 / AAS 369 / URB 363
Since the 1920s, the term "gang" has been used to describe all kinds of collectives, from groups of well-dressed mobsters to petty criminals and juvenile delinquents. In nearly a century of research the only consistency in their characterization is as internal Other from the vantage of the law. This class will investigate how the category of "the gang" serves to provoke imaginaries of racial unrest and discourses of "dangerous," threatening subjects in urban enclaves. More broadly we will examine the methods and means by which liberal democratic governments maintain their sovereign integrity through the containment of threatening populations.
Instructor: Laurence Ralph
Policing, Civil Rights and Social Change
SPI 336
This course covers policing in the United States as it intersects with constitutional rights and racial justice. Topics will include studying the history of police institutions, from slave patrols and night watches to big city police departments; the constitutional framework for policing powers; various theories and tactics of policing, such as broken windows policing; policing practices in the context of schools, drug enforcement and immigration enforcement; and the rise of social movements seeking to change police's role in society, such as the Black Lives Matter movement.
Instructor: Udi Ofer
Advanced Seminar in American Studies: Race and the Medicalization of Violence in America
AMS 404 / ANT 414 / AAS 405
This class seeks to critically analyze the intersections of race, violence, and medicine in the United States. Through an interdisciplinary lens, students will examine historical and contemporary case studies to understand how violence has been medicalized, and how race plays a significant role in these processes. Discussions will also encompass slavery, structural violence, police violence, public health approaches to violence, and the role of healthcare professionals in addressing racial disparities in the experience and treatment of violence in African American, Latinx, Asian American and Indigenous contexts.
Instructor: Aisha M. Beliso-De Jesús
Making an Exoneree
SPI 499
In this intensive seminar, Princeton students have the opportunity to contribute to the exoneration of wrongfully convicted people. A select group of dedicated students will spend the semester as investigators, documentarians, and social justice advocates. The goal is to create a public documentary, website, and social media campaign that makes the case for the innocence of a wrongfully convicted person who is currently languishing in prison and deserves to be free.
Instructor: Maya Dimant